u^nn^ui^piil' 



MEMORIAL 



O F 



LIEUT. JOSEPH P. BURRAGE: 

A 

iuntxKl S>nmon, 

PREACHED DECEMBER 25, 1863, 
B T 

REV. DANIEL R. CADY, 

II 

PASTOR OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH, WEST CAilBRIDGE, MASS. 



BOSTON: 
GOULD AND LINCOLN, 

5D WASHINGTOX STREET, 

1 864. 



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(\^b^^HE following sermon was written with 
(St^ no thought of its use beyond the oc- 
^{[y^r c^sion for which it was prepared. 
^^^ But many having expressed a wish 
f to possess it as a permanent memo- 

rial, one who greatly loved him whom it com- 
memorates proposed to print it for private dis- 
tribution among personal friends. 

For a purpose so grateful to many hearts, 
the generous offer could not be refused. 

D. R. C. 

"West Cambuidge, J.vn. 25, ISGI. 




-~*^ .funeral ^mmn 



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And this is the victory that overcometh the world, 
EVEN OUR FAITH. — 1 John 5 : 4. 



3j«« 




MOMENTOUS truth underlies the 



declaration of the text. This 
;^A earthly life is one of con- 
flict. The human race has 



brought itself into such a 
moral condition that there is a constant 
antagonism between the apparent and 




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MEMORIAL OF 



the real, — between the present and the 
future, — between the mdulgence of the 
senses, the appetites, the passions, and 
obedience to truth, conscience, God. This 
is the " conflict of the ages ; " the contro- 
versy perpetuated from generation to 
generation. Now the apostle asserts that 
in this great contest, Avhose battle-field is 
every human heart, faith alone giveth 
the victory. "The world," as used here, 
includes within the scope of its meaning 
all evil tendencies, desires, influences; 
and "faith," which is placed in contrast 
with it, is an affectionate confidence in a 
personal God, in his being, his character, 
his government. It recognizes his law 



LIEUTENANT BURR AGE. 



as the rule of right to all moral beings, 
and an obligation to obey it which noth- 
ing can render void. It trusts implicitly 
in him, as the wise and merciful Father 
and Ruler of all, and in his son Jesus 
Christ, our Lord. It believes that he has 
purposes of mercy toward his children 
individually, and toward the race collect- 
ively, — purposes which he constantly car- 
ries forward, sometimes by means whose 
fitness we can discover, often by those the 
reasons for which we cannot understand, 
and whose beneficial efiects we arc un- 
able to trace. Yet, seen or unseen, un- 
derstood or not understood, faith accepts 
them all as the wise appointments of One 



MEMORIAL OF 



who cannot err, '^ whose ways are higher 
than our ways, and his thoughts than our 
thoughts;" and in the darkness and in 
the Hght ahke, it strives to know and to 
do his will ] and, looking upward, tries 
ever to say, "Even so. Father, for so it 
seemeth good in thy sight." Thus, in 
the sunshine and in the storm, in joy and 
in sorrow, in the hour of temptation and 
of trial, in times of private calamity or of 
public disaster, "this is the victory that 
overcometh the world, even our faith." 

Emergencies often occur in our per- 
sonal experience and in the history of 
nations, when nothing but an unwaver- 
ing confidence in the truth, an unshaken 



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LIEUTENANT BURRAGE. 



trust in divine Providence, an unfaltering 
beU/gf in the final triumph of right, will 
sustain the heart and nerve the arm for 
duty. 

Appetite and passion beset the young 
and tempt them to idleness, to self-indul- 
gence, to habits which prevent usefulness 
and bring misery. Sensual allurements 
spread snares about their footsteps. They 
are solicited, upon the right hand and 
upon the left, to turn aside from the path 
of patient industry, of persevering study, 
of sobriety, of virtue, of conscientious 
obedience to the wishes of parents and 
the laws of God. Alas ! how many listen 
to the voice of the Tempter, and forego 



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3IEM0RIAL OF 



future good for themselves, and blight 
the hopes of friends, and "bring down 
gray hairs with sorrow to the grave." 
Now what the young need to guard 
them against temptation, to strengthen 
them in virtue, to nerve their arms for 
patient and conscientious labor, is that 
faith of which the apostle speaks, wdiich 
looks beyond the present, with its pleas- 
ures and indulgences, to the future, 
crowned with results of good or evil, 
depending upon present choices, and la- 
den with fruits golden as the " apples of 
the Hesperides," or bitter as those " on 
the Dead Sea side, all ashes to the taste," 
— fruits whose seeds are planted by the 



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LIEUTENANT BURR AGE. 



6- 



hands of the young. They need that 
faith which recognizes an ever-present 
and all-seeing God, whose perfect law is 
binding continually upon the heart and 
the life. 

At all ages men are tempted to take a 
present apparent good, a gratification, 
an emolument, something which pro- 
motes their ease, which increases their 
wealth, which adds to their power, at the 
expense of honor, of truth, of right; at 
the sacrifice of the welfare and happiness 
of others. And what multitudes yield to 
this temptation ! It is this which causes 
so many to make shipwreck of personal 
character : which fills the world with 



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ME2I0RIAL OF 



fraud and rapine ; which oppresses the 
hirehng in his wages ; which wrongs the 
widow and the orphan ; which grinds 
the face of the poor ; which enslaves the 
bondman; which turns this green earth 
into a very Aceldama ! What is needed 
is a living faith in the great truth that 
Jehovah rules in the armies of heaven 
and amono; the inhabitants of the earth : 
that a "Father of the fatherless and a 
Judge of the widows is God in his holy 
habitation;" and that, sooner or later, 
"he abases the proud and lifts up the 
bowed down." This is the victory that 
overcometh the w^orld, even our faith. 
The hour of sorrow comes. Those 



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LIEUTENANT BURRAGE. 



dearer to us than our own life die. 
Hopes cherished and plans pursued for 
years are blighted. We stand, stricken 
and desolate, amid the ruins of all we 
hold dear. In that dark hour, it is faith 
in God which overcometh the world and 
giveth the victory, — that faith which, 
when it cannot see, sweetly trusts God's 
wisdom and goodness ; wdiicli never 
doubts his fatherly love and care, and 
which, the thicker the darkness and the 
fiercer the storm, but presses closer to 
the side of him who reveals himself the 
Elder Brother, the Saviour, and who 
whispers to such as love him, " Lo, I am 
with you alway, even unto the end of 



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MEMORIAL OF 



the world;" "Let not your heart be trou- 
bled, neither let it be afraid." Oh, when 
Christ reveals himself to the heart agi- 
tated, distressed, despairing, its sorrows 
are assuaged, its tumults cease, serenity 
and peace and calm, hopeful trust, are 
its portion. Then faith overcometh the 
world. 

Some sharp hour of national trial and 
conflict arises. Principles are assailed; 
rights are imperilled ; cherished institu- 
tions are endangered. Foreign invaders 
or domestic traitors strike at the very 
existence of the nation. Now, there is 
a call of duty. On the one side, plead 
ease, safety, personal advantage, the 



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LIEUTENANT BURRAGE. 



emoluments of business. On the other, 
patriotism, conscience, the preservation 
of social and civil rights, the defence of 
institutions purchased by sufferings "and 
laden with blessings for the race. To 
determine duty aright there must be an 
undoubting trust in the power of truth ; 
an assurance, which nothing can shake, 
in the final triumph of right, because the 
Almighty is a God of truth and righteous- 
ness, and sits sovereign arbiter among 
the nations. There needs the faith of 
the Swedish hero, Gustavus Adolphus, 
who fell on the bloody field of Lutzen, 
and whose armies went into the battles 
fought for the Reformation, singing, — 



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MEMORIAL OF 



" Fear not ; be strong ! your cause belongs 
To him who can avenge your wrongs ; 

Leave all to him, your Lord : 
Though hidden yet from mortal eyes, 
Salvation shall for you arise : 

He girdeth on his sword ! 

"As sure as Gk)d's own promise stands, 
Not earth nor hell, with all their bands. 

Against us shall prevail : 
The Lord shall mock them from his throne ; 
God is with us, we are his own ; 

Our victory cannot fail." 

Such faith overcometh the world. This 
animated the breasts of those of whom 
the apostle writes, "Who through faith 
subdued kingdoms, wrought righteous- 



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LIEUTENANT BURR AGE. i 



ness, obtained promises, out of weakness 
were made strong, waxed valiant in figlit, 
turned to flight the armies of the aHens." 

These truths find their iUustration in 
the Hfe and character of one whose 
early death we mourn, and in the cir- 
cumstances, private and public, which 
surround us to-day. 

In speaking here of Lieutenant Jo- 
seph P. BuRRAGE under the solemnities 
of the place and of the hour, I but 
yield to the promptings of my own 
heart, and pay a deserved though lui- 
worthy tribute to a character of rare so- 
cial and Christian excellence. And you 
will allow me to say that I speak what 



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MEMORIAL OF 



I personally know, for my acquaintance 
with him was of the most familiar char- 
acter. During the four years of his col- 
lege life, there was scarce a week in 
which he was not at my house. His 
hopes and Welshes and aspirations w^ere 
perhaps known to me as well as to any 
one, so that I can speak of him confi- 
dently, from an intimate personal ac- 
quaintance. 

The outward facts of his life are soon 
stated. 

After a quiet and obedient boyhood, 
he pursued his preparatory studies at 
Phillips Academy, Andover. In the au-" 
tumn of Eighteen Hundred and Fifty- 



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LIEUTENANT BURRAGE. 



eight, he entered Harvard College. In 
September of the same year, he united 
with this church, upon a profession of 
his faith in Christ. In the spring of 
Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-one, Avhen 
traitorous hands assailed the institutions 
of freedom, and the old flag, under which 
our national glory had been won and our 
national rights maintained, was shame- 
fully stricken down on Sumter; and es- 
pecially when the tidings came, which 
electrified the whole nation, of the cow- 
ardly massacre in the streets of Balti- 
more, his whole soul was stirred within 
him, and he pondered long and prayer- 
fully the question, whether it was not 



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MEMORIAL OF 



his duty to join the gathering hosts of 
the free. With his usual good judgment 
he came to the conckision that he ought 
to complete his college course, and then 
hold himself in readiness to do whatever 
his country required at his hand. Ac- 
cordingly, he remained in the University, 
and graduated with honor in the class of 
Eisrhteen Hundred and Sixtv-two. He 
pronounced an oration at the Commence- 
ment exercises on Wednesday. On Sat- 
urday of the same week, he enlisted as 
a private in the Thirty-third Regiment 
Massachusetts "\'olunteers, and on the 
following Wednesday, one week from his 
graduation, entered upon his duties in 



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LIEUTENANT BURRAGE. 



camp at Lynnfielcl. Thus '<\t once ex- 
changing the ease and dignity of an aca- 
demic life for the hardships and perils 
of a private soldier. 

He was immediately appointed a Ser- 
geant ; was soon after made the Orderly 
of the company ; and in May last re- 
ceived a commission as Second Lieuten- 
ant. All who knew him felt that his 
promotion was fairly and honorably won, 
and was but the earnest of still higher 
honors. Indeed, his captain writes, that 
had he survived the engagement in 
which he fell, he would at once have 
been promoted. 

His regiment, for a few months, did 



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MEMORIAL OF 



duty as provost-marshal's guard at Alex- 
andria, and then joined the Army of the 
Potomac, with which it remained nearly 
a year, sharing its vicissitudes. 

The Thirty-third bore its part in the 
bloody but fruitless battle of Chancellors- 
ville. It participated in the long and 
exhausting marches which attended the 
concentration of our troops at Gettys- 
burg, and shared the perils and the hon- 
ors of that glorious day, which turned 
back the thwarted and discomfited hosts 
of Eebellion. 

After the disaster at Chickamauga, it 
was sent to reinforce the imperilled 
Army of the Cumberland. On the even- 



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LIEUTENANT BURRAGE. 



ing of the 28tli of October, the regiment, 
wearied with the fatigues and hardships 
of a long passage, reached Brown's Ferry, 
in the vicinity of Chattanooga, Tennes- 
see, and encamped with the hope of an 
unbroken night's rest. 

It was soon discovered, however, that 
the rebels had obtained possession of 
a hill, near Lookout Mountain, which 
commanded the road and the railway, 
— thus virtually separating two corps 
of the army. It was necessary they 
should be dislodged. They were evident- 
ly in force, carefully intrenched. The 
sides of the hill were abrupt, in many 
places precipitous. To assail them was 



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MEMORIAL OF 



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a work of difficulty and peril. But, at 
all hazards, it must be done. So, at 
midnight, the weary Thirty-third, just 
beginning to taste the sweets of repose, 
were called out. Willingly they obeyed 
the summons, and sprang to arms. In 
the bright moonlight, the brigade was 
formed; the Thirty-third Massachusetts 
and Seventy-third Ohio in the advance, 
the One Hundred and Thirty-sixth New 
York and Fifty-fifth Ohio as a support. 
At the w^ord of command, with a cheer 
which echoed along the rocky heights 
" the battle-cry of freedom," they moved 
forward. As they clambered up the 
steep ascent, the light of that full Octo- 



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LIEUTENANT BURR AGE. 

ber moon made them but too visible 
marks for the foe. Yet, with fixed 
bayonets, faltering not in their perilous 
work, on they went, with repeated charg- 
es, in the face of rifle-pits and breast- 
works blazing with murderous fire, till 
the routed enemy, who outnumbered 
the storming party three to one, were 
driven in confusion from their strong- 
holds. The success was rapid, — the 
achievement brilliant. Colonel Under- 
wood writes that the Massachusetts Thir- 
ty-third that night won the applause of 
the veteran army of the Cumberland. 

But, ah ! how much was crowded into 
that brief hour's strife ! The assault, the 



27 



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MEMORIAL OF 



fierce rattle of musketry, the bloody 
charge with the bayonet, the shout, the 
groan, the wounded, the dying, the dead ! 
And when the brief struggle was over, 
two-thirds the way up the ascent, falling 
in the second charge while cheering on 
his men, lay peacefully — wrapped around 
with the soft, white moonlight, as if 
shrouded for his burial by angelic hands 
— that youthful form, tenderly nurtured, 
over which scarce twenty-one years had 
passed, least fitted of all, it would seem 
to us, for scenes of strife and blood. In 
his early prime, on that distant battle- 
field, struck by a ball which broke the 
stem of his watch and pierced his heart, 



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LIEUTENANT BURRAGE. 



our young brother fell, a martyr to his 
country. With no suffering, caught up 
almost as in a chariot of fire like the 
prophet from the plain of Jordan, he 
in a moment exchanged hardship, peril, 
anxiety, strife, for rest, peace, joy. One 
moment, the roar of battle; the next, 
the "song of Moses and the Lamb." 
Young, pure, patriotic. Christian, he laid 
himself a willing sacrifice upon the altar 
of Liberty. Among the thousands of 
the pure and noble dead, none purer, 
few nobler than he. He had learned, 
on the classic page he loved so well, that 
"it is sweet and fitting to die for one's 
country ; " and the gospel had taught 

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MEMORIAL OF 



him, in defence of truth and right, not 
to count his Ufe dear unto him ; and he 
wilHngly gave it to his native land. 

Another is added to the Hst of the 
fallen, whose names a grateful country 
will not w^illingly let die. And, dear 
friends, the roll of our own martyred 
dead is lengthening out, — Ingalls, Locke, 
Brooks, Clarke, Kenny, Hill, Frost, Bur- 
rage, — we honor them all. And it is 
meet that those nurtured amid historic 
scenes,, upon soil which drank the first 
blood of the Kevolution, within sight of 
the graves where sleeps the sacred dust 
of heroes stricken on the fated day of 
Lexington and Concord, should answer 



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LIEUTENANT BURRAGE. 



to the call of freedom, if need be with 
their lives. 

Standing over these remains, I have 
no wish to speak mere words of eulogy. 
We " come to bury, not to praise." Yet 
Lieutenant Burrage had characteristics 
of so marked and special excellence that 
they deserve more specific statement 
here. 

He had great simplicity of character. 
He put on no airs. He made no preten- 
sions. He was no boaster. Even his 
family friends knew of some college 
honors only when they were announced 
in the papers or mentioned by others. 
j He was thoroughly honest, transparent 



a 



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MEMORIAL OF 



as crystal. What lie was, you saw and 
knew. There was no attempt at con- 
cealment or double-dealing. In this lay 
.one great charm of his character, — his 
naturalness and guilelessness, his unaf- 
fected modesty and truthfulness. 

He had, too, great kindness of heart. 
No one was readier than he to do a fa- 
vor, and to do it without seeming to im- 
pose an obligation. While in college, — 
what most young men would have felt 
beneath them, — he would come daily 
and sit by the bedside of an invalid 
much younger than himself to lighten 
and cheer the loneliness of the sick 
room. Indeed, he bore that severe test 



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LIEUTENANT BURRAGE. 



of true kindness of heart, the judgment of 
children. He was a favorite with them. 
He was greatly esteemed in the families 
with which he was intimate. In at least 
three households the remark has been 
made in my hearing, " No one could 
have died, outside of our family circle, 
whom we should miss so much as Jo- 
seph." 

At home, he was always a dutiful and 
affectionate son and brother. We ad- 
mired the mingled delicacy and manli- 
ness with which he bore himself toward 
one with whom he was brought into 
new and intimate home-relations ; and 
the grief, like that of a mother for her 



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MEMORIAL OF 



own childj which follows the sundering 
of these recently-formed ties, is an im- 
pressive testimonial to his worth. 

This young friend of ours was remark- 
ably pure-minded. I think the instances 
are exceedingly rare of a young man 
• spending eight years in public institu- 
tions, surrounded by men of all grades 
of moral character, exposed to subtle yet 
powerful temptation, subject to tests of 
virtuous principle under which multi- 
tudes fail, yet preserving such purity of 
mind and purity of heart as he. He 
came out from college, — where many 
become really corrupted, and a larger 
number put on the airs of men of the 



^ V, 



LIEUTENANT BURRAGE. 



world, — as the three young Jews did 
from the furnace of the Babylonian king, 
"upon whose bodies the fire had no 
power, nor was a hair of their head 
singed, neither were their coats changed, 
nor had the smell of fire passed on 
them." 

Lieutenant Burrage was faithful to all 
his duties. This was so in college ; he 
rarely missed an exercise. It was so as 
a scholar and teacher in the Sabbath 
school ; he was always punctual, always 
prepared. He was seldom absent from 
the prayer-meeting ; but was ready to 
stand in his place and do his part. He 
exhibited the same faithfulness to duty 



35 



ME 310 RIAL OF 



in the army. His captain writes thus to 
his father : " You have lost a noble son 
and the country a noble soldier. He 
was a good officer. He was strictly con- 
scientious in his duties, and w^as beloved 
by all in the company and the regiment. 
While mourning his loss, you have the 
satisfaction of knowing that he died a 
Christian." And two privates in the 
company of which he was so long 
Orderly, and who are present at these 
services to-day, bear witness to his faith- 
fulness and his impartiality. Wherever 
he was, he had an earnest desire to be 
useful. He strove to do good while with 
us and when separated from us. I have 



36 



LIEUTENANT BURRAGE. 



recently seen a most touching letter to 
a young friend, dated but a few months 
ago, urging an immediate attention to 
personal religion. We have listened to 
his letters from the army addressed to 
the Sabbath school, entreating its mem- 
bers to come to Christ. Even the be- 
nevolent collections of the church were 
not forgotten; but he wrote his father 
to contribute for him of the money he 
had sent home. 

Lieutenant Burrage, to a degree which 
few of any age are, was conscientious. 
He acted from a • sense of duty, because 
the action was right and he ought to do 
it. This was eminently shown in his 



37 



MEMORIAL OF 



enlisting. He, tenderly brought up, ac- 
customed to refined society, fond of 
books, with all the associations of aca- 
demic life fresh upon him, enlisted as a 
private soldier, to endure labors and 
hardships and perils, which he must share 
with a multitude of others, and in which 
he could scarcely hope to find distinc- 
tion. He knew what he must meet. 
He counted the cost. His act w^as from 
no transient excitement, no love of nov- 
elty, no restless desire of cliange j but 
from the stern convictions of duty. He 
saw the crime of this great treason. He 
recognized the claims which his country, 
in the hour of her peril, has upon her 



LIEUTENANT BURRAGE. 



sons. He believed that God's voice called 
him to the field of strife. And so, calmly, 
resolutely, unflinchingly, with the cour- 
age of a hero and the faith of a martyr, 
he entered upon that path which proved, 
alas ! but a short road to the tomb. His 
conscientiousness was carried into all his 
relations to his fellow-men and to his 
God. His moral and religious character 
was untarnished even by the breath of 
suspicion. 

Now let it be said to the young here, 
to all, this character of him whose 
death we mourn, — his purity, his faith- 
fulness, his conscientiousness, his Chris- 
tian irftegrity, — are an illustration of 



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MEMORIAL OF 



the text, and led to its choice. " This is 
the victory that overcame th the world, 
even our flxith." It was his confidence in 
truth, in God, in the final triumph of 
right, which made him what he was. 
He was subject to the same tempta- 
tions to idleness, to sensual indulgen- 
ces, to take present gratifications instead 
of future good, to which others are 
exposed. But he had ^^fiiith," and it 
gave him the "victory." lie believed 
there was something higher, purer, bet- 
ter, nobler, than present indulgence ; and 
that was truth, duty, usefulness, love 
to God and obedience to his law. He 
remembered that " The things wliich are 



40 



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LIEUTENANT BURRAGE. 

seen are temporal, while the things 
which are unseen are eternal." And so, 
when temptations assailed, when evil in- 
fluences were about him, when godless 
companions sought to lead him astray, 
this was the victory which overcame the 
world, even his faith. And his letters 
from the army, breathing as they do a 
deeply-religious spirit, show that there, 
amid all the surrounding defilements, he 
kept his robes clean and walked " as see- 
ing Him who is invisible." 

It is sad to see one so pure, so consci- 
entious, so desirous of usefulness, cut off 
in the morning of his days. It is a loss 
to the country, a loss to the world, a 



41 



MEMORIAL OF 



loss especially to this community ; and 
the presence here to-day of the authori- 
ties of the town, and of this large audi- 
ence, proves that the loss is deeply felt. 
Yet let us not say that he lived in vain. 
His life is no unfinished fragment, to be 
symbolized at his grave by a broken 
column. We are not compelled to turn 
away from his life-work as from some- 
thing just begun and then left incom- 
plete forever. 

Look at what he accomplished. In a 
few brief years he developed a personal 
character of rare beauty. He wrought 
carefully his own spirit. It was God's 
most precious gift. He recognized its 



42 



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LIEUTENANT BURRAGE. 



worth, and strove to make it what the 
Master would approve. He sought dil- 
igently to fit it for the Lord's hand, " in 
that day when he maketh up his jewels." 
And that work of mental and spiritual 
culture, that process of growth and de- 
velopment, commenced here, shall be 
carried on, under more favorable con- 
ditions, and with constantly enlarging 
powers, forever. 

He was a constant comfort and bless- 
ing, while he lived, to all with whom he 
was intimately associated ; and his mem- 
ory is embalmed in their hearts, and 
they will cherish it ever as a precious 
legacy. 



43 



MEMORIAL OF 



Then he was permitted, for more than 
a year, to assist in defending and main- 
taining the endangered institutions of 
his country. They were dear to him.. 
He was ready to hazard all he loved in 
their support. And, ah, at what a price 
are they being preserved! These thou- 
sands of precious lives! And yet, are 
not these great interests of freedom, of 
humanity, of religion, worth what their 
preservation costs? Who shall estimate 
the value of that which is at stake in 
this contest ? And the name of each 
one who, in a spirit of true patriotism, 
gives himself to the service of his coun- 
try shall be imperishably associated with 



44 



LIEUTENANT BURRAGE. 



its redemption. If he live, we will pay 
him the tribute of our praise, and will 
teach our children to revere him; and 
if he fall, his grave shall be but the 
bed of honor. With the patriotic and 
immortal dead our young brother now 
sleeps. 

Oh, say not that his life was in vain ! 
Say not that the hopes and aspiration^ 
of years have been all defeated ! He 
still lives! Lives in the beauty of his 
example, in the purity of his influence : 
lives in the hearts of those who loved 
him, and who will be strengthened 
against temjDtation and stimulated to 
duty by the remembrance of what he 



45 



MEMORIAL OF 



was : lives in the very perpetuity of the 
institutions he died to save : lives in that 
immortal life on high. 

Four years ago, in the dark, silent 
hours of a December night, a devoted 
Christian wife and mother lay breathing 
out her life. As a few of us surrounded 
her death-bed, she spoke calmly, trust- 
ingly, with holy peace, of her wishes 
for her children. Her thoughts dwelt 
upon her first-born. " Joseph — yes, Jo- 
seph must be a missionary." Ah, little 
thought that dying mother, little thought 
that weeping boy, who hid his face in 
her pillow, what his mission was to be ! 



46 



LIEUTENANT BURRAGE. 



Amid the perils of civil war, to defend 
the rights of freedom ; on the field of 
conflict, to lay down his young life ! 
But, if it be indeed allowed the departed 
still to take cognizance of those they 
love on earth, and to be "ministering 
spirits, sent to minister unto such as are 
heirs of salvation," — if it be, who shall 
say that in the camp, or on the march, 
or in the hour of peril, that mother did 
not w^atch over him as lovingly and ap- 
provingly as if he had been laboring for 
Christ on the plains of India or amid the 
islands of the Pacific waste ? And who 
shall say that she did not greet his freed 
spirit, going up from that field of mid- 



47 



MEMORIAL. 



night strife on the banks of the Tennes- 
see, with as holy joy and as approving 
welcome as if it had ascended from the 
shores of the Ganges or the Nile ? And 
may we not believe that as the young 
soldier, his armor just laid aside, bowed 
himself before the throne of God and of 
the Lamb, it was said to him, as to any 
fallen missionary of the cross, "Well 

DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT; THOU 
HAST BEEN FAITHFUL OVER A FEW THINGS; 
ENTER THOU INTO THE JOY OF THY LoRD." 



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